1. Two Heads Are Better Than One
Literacy Teaming
Vanessa Behun and Briana Nesheim
2/3 Multiage Teachers, Victoria Elementary

2. Two daughters out of high school
Teaching since 1990
Loves to sing in public
Short
Blonde
Came to
VES in 2005
Two kids
Live in Chaska
Listen to KFAN
Two sons in elementary school
Teaching since 2005
Secretly awesome at SingStar
Tall
Brunette

3. Once Upon a Time... Two separate multi-age classrooms
Leveled flex groups for reading (basal), across grade level
Daily 5 in homerooms (one on one conferencing, sign up for choices)

4. Your Turn! My current reading instruction practices Pros and cons
My beliefs about reading instruction
Your Turn!

5. Pros Cons Students were grouped by reading ability
Daily 5 worked to have students occupied while the teacher was meeting with other students
Only had to plan for one class
Cons
We did not know our students well as readers (even in our flex reading groups) which made conferencing a problem
Classes were different sizes (wanted to keep the lower reading classes smaller)
Direct instruction to the entire class
Not personalized to the individual student
One on one conferences were once a week, surface level
Limited by schedule

6. Our Beliefs We wanted to know our homeroom kids better as readers.
We wanted to meet with small groups of kids multiple times a week.
The range within a given classroom was too large to do that on our own.
The range within a given classroom is similar amongst other classrooms.
We wanted flexibility in scheduling with larger chunks of time.
We wanted to effectively meet the needs of all of our students by personalizing their learning.

7. Step 1: Assessments
Running Records (what are the other kids doing?)- Reading A-Z
File folder for tracking
Created groups (6 or less)
Looked at combinations of groups to separate behaviors, share the wealth
We each had about 5-6 small groups
We are required to assess 3 times a year but we find ourselves assessing kids more often depending on individual needs
File folder

8. Teaching By Skills
We aligned the skills from gr. 2 basal so they would match gr. 3
We teach the skill in a grade level whole group in the morning (gradual release)
Our small groups focus on the same skills but with texts at that group’s reading level
Once a trimester, we use non-fiction texts that support our theme topic (Native Americans, Antarctica, Animals)

9. Texts
Finding quality texts at multiple levels that we can read within the time frame is tough! We are constantly on the hunt for good literature.
We can fall back on Journeys leveled readers (look at different grade levels)
Book room, ReadWorks, Reading A-Z, National Geographic for Kids Magazines, book orders
Store materials based on skills, not stories

10. Fitting It All In Daily Schedule 9:20 Student Arrival 9:30 Specials
10:30 Snack/Morning Meeting
11:00 Grade Level Language Arts
Grade Level Standards
Basal Skills
Grammar and Spelling
Vocabulary
Writing
12:00 Lunch/Recess
12:35 Language Arts (flexible)
1:05-2:00 Math
2:00-3:00 Guided Reading Groups/Daily 5
3:00-3:45 Theme
3:50 Dismissal
Fitting It All In
Grouping schedules (group a meets M, W, F...etc.)
Three 20 minute groups each day (one group every day during read aloud)
Vocab/word work, reading skill/fluency, writing (order depends on group level)
We use this for our PLC goal
140 total minutes for language arts instruction each day
Weekly schedule with post-its

11. What Are The Other Kids Doing?
Started with Daily 5 with fidelity
30 minutes read to self for everyone- non-negotiable
Must-Dos and May-Dos
Unfinished Work From Reading
Reading with a Partner
Working on Writing
PL Projects
Continue Read to Self
Cursive
IXL

12. Our Next Steps Continue “owning” grade level Journeys curriculum
Increase multiage writing opportunities
Read aloud buddy for small groups or assessments
Secretly incorporating reading skills into W.I.N. time
Continue searching for resources to teach standards that complement Journeys
New theme topics for interdisciplinary lessons
Use Empower to track standards for students

15. Questions
Goals
Your Turn!